Binoculars

I know nothing about them but the other half wants some for wildlife etc when out on walks.

Any suggestions around the £50-75 range?

I was thinking of the 20×50 from here: (http://www.strathspey.co.uk/)

I have a pair of these these Bushnell binosand think they are great.

I love the fact that they are waterproof and shock resistant, it means I can be my usual careless self with them and not worry about damaging them. They are a reasonable compact size and have good quality optics. They don’t have as much magnification or lens size as the pair you are looking at though.

(Would a tripod be needed for 20x magnification binos???)

I was just wondering about a tripod. Is 10x normally enough?

Waterproof and shock proof would be nice – will take a look at those.

Having a zoom lens might be nice?

General rule for field glasses* used to be regarded as…

Square of the first number (magnification IIRC) should be less than the second number (diameter in mm of objective lens)

Therefore, it may be unfashionable, but 7×50 = perfect field glasses set up

* By field glasses, I mean those used out and about “in the field”, field sports, shooting, that sort of thing.

Go bigger on the mag and all you end up doing is getting lots of vibration induced blur. Smaller on the objective and you get loss of image quality, and less light gathering power (important for dawn or dusk)

For general use I wouldnt go above 10×50 and even they will be a bit big to carry. Anything with higher magnification (first number) will need to be used with a tripod.
Id recommend an 8×30 for general use.

Found some interesting info, here…

Bino basics

Magnification (power)

Binoculars are commonly described by using a pair of numbers, as in “7×50” or “8×25.” The first of these numbers refers to the magnification offered by the binocular. Magnification is why most people buy a pair of binoculars. In the examples above, “7x” means the binocular makes whatever you look at appear seven times closer than it does to the unaided human eye. “8x” means the binocular makes whatever you look at eight times closer than the unaided human eye. “10x” makes things look ten times closer, and so on. The first number used to describe binoculars always refers to their magnification. Common binocular magnifications are 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x, and 10x.

There are also variable power (zoom) binoculars, such as 7-21×50. These almost always perform much better at the low power setting than they do at the higher settings. This is natural, since the front objective cannot enlarge to let in more light as the power is increased, so the view gets dimmer. At 7x, the 50mm front objective provides a 7.1mm exit pupil, but at 21x, the same front objective provides only a 2.38mm exit pupil. Also, the optical quality of a zoom binocular at any given power is inferior to that of a fixed power binocular of that power. In general, zoom binoculars are not the bargain they seem to be.

Remember that everything (including movement) is magnified when you look through a pair of binoculars, especially your own shakes and tremors. So the higher the power, the harder it seems to hold the binoculars steady. 6, 7, or 8 power binoculars are easier for most people, even those with very steady hands, to hold reasonably still. The higher powers sound like a good deal, but often result in jiggly, blurred views. This is why 7x binoculars are chosen by so many experts, including the military.

Power affects brightness. Other things being equal, the higher the power, the dimmer the view. And power also affects the field of view of the binoculars. Again, everything being equal, the higher the power, the smaller the field of view. So, as you can see, power must be balanced against other desirable characteristics when choosing binoculars.

Objective lens (diameter)

The second number most commonly associated with binoculars refers to the diameter of the objective lens in millimeters. Thus in “7×50,” the “50” means that the front lenses of the binoculars are 50mm in diameter, which is large for hand held binoculars.

This is very important information, because the larger the diameter of the front objectives, the more light can enter the binoculars and be focused to your eyes. Thus, other things being equal, you can see better in dim light with binoculars that have large front lenses. For example, 7×50 binoculars are often called “night glasses” because they seem so bright in dim light. Read more about this under “Exit pupil.” Of course, a large front objective makes for larger, and heavier, binoculars. Which is why compact binoculars always have relatively small front lenses.

These look particularly impressive!!
Steiner

I’d support the above comments – 7 or 8 x 42 as the maximum size for practical use.

I’ve got a pair of Zeiss 10×42’s and the quality of the lens is astounding, but still a fairly narrow field and depth of view, that you’ll find is better with a 7 or 8 times.

The Swarovski Habicht porro-prisms are a bargain, at a mere £699 🙂 and if I had the spare money, I’d buy a pair tomorrow.

the 8×30 advice for a pair for carrying around is good – and if I were you I’d go for a pair of second hand Eastern German ones off of Ebay, or a pair of IOR from Romania

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/sis.html?_nkw=Carl+Zeiss+Jena+Binoculars+Deltrintem+1Q+8×30+Nice

hmm quite like the idea of some old Zeiss ones but need them quickly as going away next week and as I know nothing about them I wouldn’t know which to go for on ebay.

Also quite like the idea of some modern waterproof ones.

as others have said 8 or 10X42 will do the job opticron are good the hawke ed range are good but around the £280 £300 price range

go to a shop with a good variety and try a few jacobs cameras have a good range

avoid zoom binos they are usally pants

For general use I’d suggest a compact pair – far easier to carry about.

I got some of these compact 8×25 Opticron binos free when I joined the British Trust for Ornithology. They’re about £50 to buy and I think they’re really good for the price.